Steaming and pressing iron



Jan. 6, 1948. F. E. woLcOr-r STEAMING AND PRESSING IRON I Filed Feb. 8,1944 Patented Jan. 6, 1948 smssmso Nn raassmo moN Frank E. Wolcott, WeltHartford, Conn., assignor to The Silex Company. Hartford. Conn.

Application February 8, 19,44, Serial No. 521,508

` Claims. l

This invention relates to steaming and pressing irons andjparticularlyto such as are adapted for supplying steam to a piece of material whilebeing ironed.

It is wellknown that such steaming irons are commonly designed tocontain a certain quantity of water from which steam is generated withinthe iron and then deliveredl to the work being ironed. While such ironsloperate very satisfactorily, the amount of water which they can hold,and still be of a convenient size for easy handling, is not suillcientto provide enough steam for ironing a quantity oi' pieces in successionor to take care of a large laundry where continuous operation of theiron is required.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide such a steamingiron which is adapted to hold a certain quantity of water to begenerated 'into steam and also provided with means for an auxiliarysupply of steam or water to said iron from a remote source.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an iron which canbe used either as a selfcontained unit or as an iron receiving water orsteam from an outside source.

A still further object of the invention is to pro- `vide an auxiliaryconnection for said iron which will not interfere with the handling ofthe iron.

during the use thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel safety means forpermitting the release of pressure in said iron should it reach beyond`a safe limit.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the fol- Fig. 1 is a side view, partly in centralvertical section, of a steam ironembodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the handle and outer coverportion removed.

. lowing description and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 3 is a side view, in elevation, of a rear por- Fig. 6 is anenlarged side view, in central vertical section, showing the connectionfor the auxiliary supply tube.

Fig. 'l is a fragmental view showing a modified form of bindingvior theelectric cord and flexible tube.-

As illustrated in the drawings, the steam iron embodying my-inventionmaycomprise the usual body portion 5, preferably in the form of a containerfor water to be generated into steam. A

vsole plate 5 is secured to said body portion and a heating element, inthe form of an electrical resistance 1, is provided between said soleplate and body portion.

An opening 5 is formed in the upper part of the body portion and a bamewall 5 is provided between said opening and the reservoir I0 within saidbody portion 5. The said wall 9 has an opening II which is covered by asuitable baille plate I2to prevent water in said reservoir fromsplashing through the opening 8 and thereupon passing out of the ironwith the steam.

An inner cover I3 is provided .for closing the opening 8. This cover hasa steam passage Il therein which permits the passage of steam from thesteam chamber I5 through said passage, and through a selectivelyoperable valve I5 toa steam distributing chamber I1 located in the soleplate and from which the steam is allowed to pass preferably intogrooves I8 and from there upon the work being ironed.

The specific construction of some of the ele-l ments herein mentionedwill not be described Ysince they are fully disclosed in U. S.'PatentNo. 2,371,569, dated Mar. 13, 1945, to Frank E. Wolcott et al.

' It will be noted that the embodiment illustrated herein provides anouter cover I9 which is secured to the iron by means of screws 20 and 2lwhich are vthreaded respectively to the cover Il and the body portion 5.

'A handle 22 is secured to saldi/outer cover, at its rear end, by meansof a'screw 23. The front end ofthe handle is secured/to the cover Ilthrough a series of radiating plates 2l.

The present invention is particularly directed to the structureincluding the rear portion and the handle 22 and the means extendingtherethrough. for connecting an electric circuit to the heating element,1, and also to a tube for providing an auxiliary supply of water andsteam to the chamber I0. This construction includes a cap 25 which fitswithin a recess 26 in the top of the rear portion and is secured bymeans of screws 21.

A recess 28 is provided below the recess 26 to contain an electricalconnection to conductors 29 and 29a, which extend into said recess 28from a' circuit control, indicated generally at- 30 and such as fullydescribed in U. S. Patent No. 2,424,433, dated July 22, 1 947, to LeslieM. Brown, through openings in said rear handle portion and into saidrecess 28.

A flexible extension 3| is mounted within the cap 25 and projectsupwardly therefrom through an opening in said cap. and an electricalconductor cord 32 extends downwardly through said flexible extension 3|into the recess 28 wherein the conductor wires from said cord areconnected to the conductors 29 and 29a by means of screws 33 and 34. Thesaid cord 32 is prevented from pulling out of the extension 3| by meansof a suitable strain relief member 35.

In order to provide for an auxiliary supply of water or steam to thereservoir I0. I provide a tube 36 which is connected to the `cover i3 bymeans of a suitable tting 31 that may be secured to said cover by a nut33. The said tube extends horizontally between the outer cover |9 andthe inner cover I3 and then extends vertically through the rear portionof the handle and the extension 3| and preferably terminates slightlyabove the projection 39 on said member in close proximity to the cord32. When it is desired to use said tube 36, for supplying steam or waterto the chamber I0, a flexible tube 40 may be attached to theend of thetube 3B, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, and the said tube may beconnected to the cord 32 by means of suitable detachable clamps 4|.

If desired, the said cord and tube may be bound together within a commoncovering 4|-a of woven material as shown in Fig. '7.

When the said steam iron is to be used as a self-contained unit, withsteam generated from water within the reservoir I0, the Vsaid flexibletube 39 may be detached from the iron and the cap, such as indicated at42, may be placed over the end of the tube 36. The said cap provides asafety means for preventing accumulation of excessive pressure withinthe steam iron since such pressure will tend to blow the cap off the endof the tube. In order to prevent violent blowing of said cap andpossible ,accident to the user of the iron, I provide an opening 43inthe tube which is closed by said cap but which is uncovered as the capbegins to rise under pressure and thereby permits the steam to escapethrough said opening and prevent the blowing off of the cap 42.

In the modified form illustrated in Fig. 4, the tube 36 ends within theextension 3|, which is preferably constructed of rubber or other suit'able material, and a plug 44 is inserted into the opening 45 whichcontinues through said extension 3|. In this form, a release opening 46is provided in the extension 3| so that, when excessive pressure liftsthe plug 44, the said pressure will be released through the opening 45and thereby prevent blowing off of the plug 43.

From the above description it will be clearly understood that myinvention provides means for the connection of an auxiliary supply ofwater or steam to a steaming iron and whereby such a connection isconveniently provided through a portion of the handle so that the cord,for the electric container and the flexible tube for the water or steam,are led into the iron together and thus eliminate undue obstruction andinterference during the use of the iron, such as en countered otherwisewhere the auxiliary supply tube is connected to the iron at a distancefrom where the electric cord connection leads into the iron. andfurther, permits the binding of the tube with the electric cord, alongtheir length, so that, if desired, the said electric cord and tube maybe enclosed in a single cover and thereby form a single line extendingfrom the iron.

I claim: y

1. A steaming and pressing iron of the character described comprising abody portion -having a steam chamber therein, a sole plate, a heatingelement, means for conducting steam from said steam chamber to theironing surface of said sole plate, a handle, a flexible memberextending from said handle, an electrical conductor extending throughsaid flexible member and connected to said heating element, and a tubealso extending through said flexible member and commu nicating with saidsteam chamber.

2. A steam iron of the character described comprislng a body portionhaving a steam chamber therein, a sole plate, a heating element, meansfor conducting steam from said steam chamber to the ironing surface ofsaid sole plate, a handle having a recess in a rear portion thereof, acover in said recess, an electrical conductor extending through saidcover and connected to said heating element, and a tube extendingthrough said cover in proximity to said conductor 'and communicatingwith said steam chamber.

3. A steaming iron of the character described comprising a body portionhaving a steam chamber therein, a sole plate, a heating element, a.handle having a recess therein, an electrical connection for saidheating element located in said recess, a cover over said recess, aflexible extension` on said cover, an electrical conductor run-A ningthrough said extension to said electrical connection, a tube runningthrough a portion of said extension and communicating with said steamchamber, and a flexible tube running parallel with said conductor andconnected thereto and extending therefrom' to the end of the first tube.

4. A steaming iron of the character described comprising a body portionhaving a reservoir therein, a steam chamber above said reservoir, abaille plate between said reservoir and steam chamber, a sole plate,means for conducting steam from said steam chamber to the ironingsurface of said sole plate, a heating element, an electrical con-ductorextending through a portion of said handle and connected tol saidheating element, a tube extending through a portion of the handle andcommunicating with said steam chamber at a position' directly above saidbaille plate, and a flexible tube connected with the rst tube andrunning parallel with and connected to said electrical conductor.

5. A steaming iron of the character described comprising a body portionhaving a reservoir therein, a sole plate, a heating element, means forconducting steam from said reservoir to the ironing surface on said soleplate, a handle for said body having a rear portion with a recesstherein, an electrical connection for said heating element located insaid recess, a tube communicating with said steam chamber and extendingthrough said recess, a cap for covering said recess, said cap having anepemnc therein tnrnugn which the v l Said tube m7018613, 5nd Bnelectrical 00am-161701 melgiaxe Dec D39ie1935 extending through Said Cap3nd @Onncd t0 Said 2:309427 Wolcott Jan 25, 1943 electrical nnetin FRANKw won, 395,631 Cotter sept. 1o, 1901 E 0 5 '1,331,539 v Harrington oet.1g.' 1932 2,222,305 'rricomi et a1. 2------ Nov. 1 1940 REFERENCES CITEDY 2,316,901 Wannee Apr. 20,1943 The following references are of recordin the 2,294,573 Shapiro et 9,1, Y sept, 1, 1942 me of this patent: lo2,313,382 Kistner Mar. 9, 1943 UNITED STTEB PATENTS 1,237,726 Tylr A118.21. 1917 2,247,438 Gorton July 1, 1941 Number Name Date 1,180,114 DurandApr. 18, 1916

